Research indicates that although a majority of smokers and recent former smokers in Quebec are aware of help services to quit smoking, few use them.
A document published Thursday by the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) adds that even well-known pharmacological aids and services are relatively little used.
The J’ARRÊTE telephone line and website are respectively known to 81% and 61% of recent smokers and former smokers, but used by 2% and 8% of them, with opinions divided as to their usefulness.
Pharmacological aids, particularly nicotine patches, gums and lozenges, are known to more than 95% of recent smokers and former smokers aged 18 and over, but less than 10% use them.
Reimbursement of pharmacological aids is considered very useful by the majority of its beneficiaries; However, few smokers take advantage of it.
The INSPQ points out that the literature nevertheless confirms that these interventions are effective and that their costs are lower compared to those generated by the treatment of diseases caused by smoking. But a significant proportion of recent smokers and ex-smokers reported that they wanted to quit smoking on their own.
The authors of the research point out that low resource use is not unique to Quebec; it has also been observed in other provinces of Canada and elsewhere in the world.
The Quebec Statistics Institute has developed a survey panel on which these data are based. Smokers and former smokers were invited to complete a questionnaire and from February to May 2022, a total of 1336 smokers and former smokers participated.